Wall Street donor restrictions would impact Christie

Several people involved in New York fundraising have told me that his supporters believe the money would be there for Chris Christie if he ran - especially in the form of a super PAC.

That last point has been especially important in light of a smart point John Podhoretz makes this morning - the same Wall Street broker rules that have curtailed Rick Perry's fundraising would also apply to Christie as a sitting governor involved with state pension business.

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He writes:

Since Wall Street firms want to pitch state pension funds for investments, the SEC has ruled that so-called “pay-to-play” rules “prohibit a covered firm, its covered employees, or any PAC they control from making, soliciting or coordinating contributions on behalf of a covered official.”

Those words come from advice proffered to clients by Skadden Arps this past August after Texas Gov. Rick Perry entered the race. Donations are limited (for some reason) to $350 to a campaign in the giver’s home state and $150 for a national campaign.

One GOP campaign expert told me he thought Perry would take about a $10 million fund-raising hit due to the new rules — but that Perry could probably survive it because he has so many other donors to whom he can turn, especially in the oil and gas industry.

The big money in New Jersey is all related to Wall Street, and so Christie can’t easily replace it — unless he becomes the Republican version of Howard Dean, making passionate pleas for small donors and creating an enthusiastic network of supporters over the Internet.

Podhoretz argues that Christie can get around this with a major appeal to small donors that turns the Wall Street point around:

Once again, he can make the problem an advantage by talking about it explicitly. “You don’t have to worry that I will be a creature of Wall Street,” he can say, “because Wall Street is basically forbidden from giving my campaign money. I know when Wall Street is good — my wife has worked there for many years. And I know when it has been bad. And I am not afraid to take on anybody who gets in the way of the mission to save America.”

A Christie candidacy would depend upon a groundswell, in other words — a groundswell he’d have to encourage on a daily basis. His undoubted charisma, ability to think on his feet (as a former courtroom prosecutor) and plain-spoken mien would make that possible.